cant decide between two vows.. i could somehow combined them both.. ??

VOW 1

(me reading as if im reading it to him)

Sam I give you this ring – wear it with love and joy. i choose you to be my husband, to have to hold from this day forward for better or for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish as long as we both shall live.

i take you, my beloved and my best friend, my chosen one, through all of our lives together. i give you this ring, which is bound to my heart. wear it always, as a symbol of my love. i promise to love you without reservation, honor and respect you, comfort you in times of distress, encourage you to achieve all of your goals, laugh with you and cry with you, grow with you in mind and spirit, always be open and honest with you, and stay with you for as long as we both shall live.

VOW 2

I, Rachel, take you Sam, to be my friend, my lover, the father of my children and my husband. i will be yours in times of plenty and in times of want, in times of sickness and in times of health, in times of joy and in times of sorrow, in times of failure and in times of triumph. i promise to cherish and respect you, to care and protect you, to comfort and encourage you, and stay with you, for all eternity.

I didn’t vote because I really think it depends on YOU. The first one sounds more personal, whereas the second one is much more traditional. What is more important to you, writing unique vows or using more traditional ones, which have stood the test of time (so to speak)?

I think #1 is beautiful, but agree with Eleanor, it is bit long. #2 is classic and romantic.

I like the first one too, but it really needs to be edited. It sounds like 2 separate vows as it is. I’ve edited it below to make sense to me. Obviously they’re your vows so you do whatever YOU want! 🙂

Sam, my beloved and my best friend, I give you this ring, which is bound to my heart – wear it always with love and joy as a symbol of my love for you through all our lives together. I choose you to be my husband, to have to hold from this day forward. I promise to love you without reservation, to honor and respect you, comfort you in times of distress, encourage you to achieve all of your goals, laugh with you and cry with you, grow with you in mind and spirit, always be open and honest with you, and stay with you and cherish you for as long as we both shall live.

Vow 1… but I agree I might shorten it just a tad. I kinda cringed when I read “I take you as…. my lover” in the 2nd one. I realize thats a part of marriage and I’m ALL FOR IT, but mentioning it makes me feel weird.

I think vow #1 is more personal and unique, Vow #2 is more traditional. What are you going for? If you go with #1 read it through a few more times and see if you can shorten it without losing any of the content. Good luck (I still have to work on ours) 🙂